Friday, August 31, 2007

A Personal Attack!

One of the more interesting manipulations of the American Psyche involves the use of the term “Personal Attack” when people who make decisions for others wish to do something that is wrong without having to deal with being accountable for it. If they are called to task for causing harm they will often accuse you of personally attacking them, or suggest that you are “playing the blame game”. I believe this is meant to make you feel as though you are overreacting to the wrong they have done, and is often indicative that they intend to continue doing what it is you called them to task for in the first place.

This may sound like a Republican strategy ( oops... there I go personally attacking the Republican party) but it’s not. It’s a trick used by many Americans from several walks of life. Lawyers love this sort of terminology. Politicians eat it up too. I personally think it’s a coward’s way of attempting to look like a victim, to either garner sympathy or make you leave them alone. It has virtually nothing to do with respect.

As I’ve said before, I’d much rather have someone confront me directly than have them stab me in the back. It seems to me it’s these “personal attack” philosophy promoters who are also very adept at wielding the hidden knife. I believe “niceness” is destroying our society.

“This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper” T.S. Elliot